For 110 years, Hungarian animation has been enchanting us. In the framework of the anniversary year, the Liszt Institute London will guide visitors through the world of Hungarian animation with a film screening and a panel discussion on 22 November 2024. Join us!
Its journey began in 1914, when 19-year-old graphic artist István Kató-Kiszly created his first animated film, the humorous Ödön Zsirb. This short film, now unfortunately lost, featured simple white paper cutouts as characters, with the protagonist representing the “fat bucket,” a popular figure in fairground comedies of that era.
Regular animated film production started in the 1930s at Coloriton, a Budapest-based commercial film studio founded by János Halász, Félix Halász, Félix Kassowitz, and Gyula Macskássy. While many Hungarian artists who moved abroad enriched the global animation scene, Gyula Macskássy’s enduring legacy was his role in ensuring that Hungarian animation continued uninterrupted after World War II.
From the 1960s and 1970s, Hungarian animation flourished, producing classics like János Vitéz, Lúdas Matyi, Macskafogó, and the iconic Hungarian Folk Tales series with its 100 episodes. Artistic animations and popular films created for international clients also thrived.
In 1980, Ferenc Rófusz’s The Fly became the first Hungarian film to win an Oscar.
The 2000s were marked by cult favorites and global achievements, such as Géza M. Tóth’s Oscar-nominated Maestro in 2006, Milorad Krstić’s visually stunning feature Ruben Brandt, Collector, and Áron Gauder’s award-winning films Nyócker! (2004) and The Four Souls of Coyote (2023), which won at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.
Today, Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design (MOME) is at the forefront of training the next generation of Hungarian animators. Films produced by MOME Anim, the university’s animation workshop, and by its graduates are regularly showcased at prestigious festivals around the world, including Berlinale, Annecy, and Cannes.